Ancistrus caught behind background!

[Hansen]

Hi,
I have an BTN amazonas background in my tank. Somehow my male ancistrus ca. 2.5 inches long has been caught behind it - I don't know how, there's no passage between the front and back except for the hole for water to be able to circulate through the filter etc., and there's a net in front of it. Either it has jumped(!)at least 1 inch up and 2 across, or I must have messed up while cleaning/making water change ( ). I can get a hose 1 inch wide behind the background to clean the bottom now and then. I have cut a 10 inch long piece of the hose, and blinded it at the one end with a string attached, and lowered it (with a food pellet inside) to the buttom to trap it, but without luck. Does anybody have a bright idea as to how I can free it? i can't get to it with a net - too tight between the tank's backside and the background?

[MatsP]

Sounds like a difficult thing. If you can get a piece of hose/pipe in there and a lot of light (so that the fish thinks the hiding space is better than being out in the open).

Otherwise, I suppose the only option is to get the backing out of there...

--
Mats

[andywoolloo]

i'm with Mats, rip the backing off. scary.

[L number Banana]

Scary is right, don't know if the emergency is over or not but maybe you could try sliding something long and flat down in behind from one end, along the bottom, 'scooping' up your fish in the process, all the way to the other end and one the fish is in the middle, slowly raise it from both ends?

My brain is picturing something like one of the flexible slats from those old window blinds, or a drywall taper's edge strip, long, skinny and flexible?

Good luck!

He might go into a piece of black PVC pipe with Mat's Flashlight idea too.

[Hansen]

Hi,
Thanks for your thoughts on how to solve the problem. There's room enough for him to do OK for a while, but not room enough to get to him with a net - also, since the background is 3D there's unfortunately plenty of "caves" at the bottom I have no chance to get to, so I don't think the "scooping" idea will work. I'll try to get him into the pipe with the flashlight and the food in there....Otherwise, I'll have to remove the background which will be very difficult to do.
Thanks for your replies!
Hans

[Hansen]

The little Houdini is back! Either he has dug an under-gravel (and "under-background"!) passageway or he has made an incredible jump over and across the background again. Both of the possibilities seems highly unlikely to me. Can't figure out how he did it, but the important thing is he's doing fine.

[Richard B]

Fish are amazing where they can turn up in systems & (although he is back) i bet he wasn't bothered at all being there (as long as a bit of food found it's way to him). In similar situations i'd be tempted to let things continue unless you see some physical sign of injury or body wasting (due to lack of adequate food)

[Mike_Noren]

He's found an opening somewhere. They're amazing at that.

FWIW I eventually gave up trying to keep my fish out from behind my background, and removed the (obviously ineffective) cover over the water intake. They now move freely back and forth, with some Ancistrus and shrimp electing to stay permanently behind the background. To them it's just one big cave, and apparently they find sufficient food to sustain them.

[sidguppy]

if the topside of the backpanel is open; you might want to close that off.

ancistrus do crawl out of the water on moist surfaces, especially rocky surfaces with algae growth on them

I've seen them grazing out of the water with ease
they just went up and the fact that they were leaving the water didn't bother them at all.
as long as it's moist or wet and there's algae; they try to eat em.

they can and do survive for quite some time out of the water.

[MatsP]

When I had a bit of a mishap in my fishroom and my tanks filled with a bit too much water, they "escaped" out of the tank. So yes, they are good at climbing...

--
Mats

[Hansen]

if the topside of the backpanel is open; you might want to close that off.

ancistrus do crawl out of the water on moist surfaces, especially rocky surfaces with algae growth on them

I've seen them grazing out of the water with ease
they just went up and the fact that they were leaving the water didn't bother them at all.
as long as it's moist or wet and there's algae; they try to eat em.

they can and do survive for quite some time out of the water.

When I had a bit of a mishap in my fishroom and my tanks filled with a bit too much water, they "escaped" out of the tank. So yes, they are good at climbing...

I didn't realize those guys were able to do that That certainly would explain the incident.
I'll try to come up with an "There I fixed it" solution to keep him from doing that. Otherwise I'll consider to remove the cover from the water intake and let them all go back and forth at will as suggested above.
Thanks for your thoughts on the subject. Hans